Personal Accounts of World War II


The following resources will help you in your search for personal accounts of WWII.

 Print Resources

The Greatest Generation, by Tom Brokaw (940.54 BRO)
In this powerful and moving compilation from NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, the voices of the American mn and women who came of age during the Great Depression and World War II are dramatically heard. This is the generation that, in many ways, shaped the future of the country. These stories serve as poignant reminders of how much the will and determination of a united populace can accomplish.

   
The War, by Geoffrey Ward and Ken Burns (940.53 WAR)
The vivid voices that speak from these pages are not those of historians or scholars.  They are the voices of ordinary men and women who experienced - and helped to win - the most devastating war in history, in which between 50 and 60 million lives were lost.
Enriched by maps and hundreds of photographs, including many never published before, this is an intimate, profoundly affecting chronicle of the war that shaped our world

 Online Databases

General Reference Center Gold - Search multiple formats: journals, magazines, encyclopedias, and more.
Student Resource Center Gold - Offers more than 1,100 full-text periodicals and newspapers, primary sources, creative works, and multimedia, including hours of video and audio clips and podcasts.  Hint: select Advanced Search to enter multiple keywords.

 Internet Sites

B-26 Marauder Historical Society - WWII Diaries and Personal Accounts: http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/

LOC - Experience the War - Voices of War - Veteran's History Project: http://www.loc.gov/vets/stories/voicesofwar/

NOAA History - WWII Personal Accounts: http://www.history.noaa.gov/ww2_personal.html

NPR - A World War II Diary and Lost Love: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1671596

PBS - Battle of the Bulge - Soldiers' Battlefield Accounts: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bulge/sfeature/sf_dispatches.html

PBS -D-Day: Letters from the Front: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dday/sfeature/sf_letters.html

PBS - Voices of D-Day: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dday/sfeature/sf_voices.html

PBS - The War: http://www.pbs.org/thewar/

Rutgers Oral History Archives - World War II: http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/

What Did You Do In the War, Grandma: http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/WWII_Women/tocCS.html

WWII Combat Medic's Personal Accounts: http://home.att.net/~steinert/newpage3.htm

World War II First Person Accounts, Diaries and Journals: http://www.teacheroz.com/WWII_Oral_History.htm

The World War II Journals of Col. Walton S. Van Arsdale: http://www.jamesvanarsdale.com/WWII/index.htm


If you don't find what you're looking for in any of the sites above, try your 
own keyword search using the following tips...

 Internet Search Tips

  1. Type the URL (web site address) of a search directory/engine in the address box: ex: www.yahoo.com, or www.google.com, etc.
     
  2. (Be sure to type the address exactly the way you see it, including any uppercase letters and punctuation).
     
  3. Type in keyword(s). (If your keyword has two parts such as: "West Bank", be sure to put quotes around it so that the search engine only finds the Internet sites about the West Bank as opposed to all of the sites containing the word west plus all of the sites containing the word bank.
     
  4. If you would like to search for something specific about a the West Bank, try a combined keyword search by adding a comma, followed by a space and you other search term.  For instance; if I wanted to find out about the conflict in the West Bank between Israel and Palestine I would enter the following:
     

     "West Bank", conflict, Israel, Palestine
     

  5. Hit Enter on your keyboard, or click on Search, then scan the description of the "hits" (entries) and click on the links that sound best.
          Be sure to critically evaluate Internet sources.  UC Berkley Library's Evaluating Webpages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask is an excellent source to help you critique the quality of websites in the following areas:
  6. Remember: if you choose to use any information (text or graphics) found on the Internet, online databases, or print material, you must cite every resource you used.  Use the Works Cited Guide to access MLA format.
  7.  

Created by Liza Zandonella, Library Media Specialist.

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